Holistic approach used to draw out benefits of reduced poverty

One of the world’s best known economists, Jeffery Sachs, has been active in addressing the holistic approach the United Nations has in place right now to help reduce poverty in developing countries. Sachs, a special adviser to the United Nations on the Millennium Development Goals, told gathered members of the media at a news conference in Nairobi, "Whether it's Darfur or Somalia or other conflict regions, people are in conflict because they're so poor they cannot stay alive -- that's what needs to be addressed for security for rich countries," Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Before that security can be reached, a plan to actually reduce poverty must prove successful. That is precisely what a U.N. experiment is setting out to do. The “Millennium Village Project” will target 78 villages across Malawi, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda are receiving “targeted investments” such as mosquito nets, medicines and fertilizers, along with improved crops and other assistance as part of an effort to help cut the world’s extreme poverty in half by the year 2015. The project is expected to have a positive impact on 400,000 people and is slated to cost just $50 per villager annually for the next five years.

Sachs also stressed that security around the world should be prioritized.

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